Miserable High
by starfallen00
Summary: So this is just an idea I had. Not real plot arc in mind, just a lot of fun stories about the Mizzies in High school. Some relationships and stuff have been changed for the sake of convenience, but I hope you enjoy :)


Miserable High

Jean Valjean glanced around him as he walked into the first day of his junior year. It was the first time he'd stepped inside a school since he got busted for stealing a couple loaves of bread from a local convenience store last school year. It seemed fairly average, as high schools go, with one exception. For some reason, it seemed very French-themed. There were French flags hanging on the walls, and… wait, were the floors cobblestones? He shrugged. _I guess it's better than prison…_ He thought to himself. He walked by a group of guys wearing red, white and blue rosettes. _Ok… Wonder who they are…_ he shrugged mentally. _To each his own, I suppose. _ He headed to his first class, which was English. He looked at the syllabus, realizing the first book they would be reading was called _Les Miserables._ The Miserable Ones; not a very inspiring title, to be sure, but maybe it would be ok. The teacher began giving them a little intro to what the book was about. Strange… The main character had the same name as him… Well, it wasn't unheard of, but his name _was_ pretty unique… When English was over for the day, he headed to his second class, which was art. Art was a mixed-grade class, so he ended up next to a small freshman girl. She had beautiful brown hair and big blue eyes. Her arms and legs were so thin that they almost looked like they would break if she so much as tripped. His first impression was of a little bird, like a lark. The teacher entered the room, sitting down at his desk. "Alright, everyone. Since today is the very first day of class, you will simply draw something that you believe represents you as a person. Anything you like, just put your heart into it."

Jean shrugged. He wasn't really all that into art, but he'd give it a shot. He started sketching out a landscape, with some trees. He always did like trees. He glanced over at the small girl beside him. She seemed to be sketching some sort of castle. He kept glancing over as they both worked, realizing it was a castle in the sky, more specifically, a delicate castle floating on a cloud. It was beautiful and very detailed. She was definitely an artist. When class got out, Jean caught up to the Lark, as he called her in his mind. "Hey, that castle you drew was super good."

She looked up, obviously surprised to have an upperclassman even speak to her, nevermind compliment her. She looked at the ground, smiling shyly. "Thanks."

Jean smiled in a friendly way. Being a big, muscular guy, he didn't want to scare her. "My name is Jean," he said in a gentle tone.

It seemed to have worked, because she looked up at him, her eyes gleaming with a new light and a slightly less shy smile on her face. "I'm Cosette," she said in her small, birdlike voice.

Jean could tell that no one else really paid attention to her, and with her small, unimposing stature and shy demeanor, it wasn't hard to tell why. "Nice to meet you, Cosette. See you at lunch?"

She nodded, her smile brightening. Jean nodded with a smile of his own, breaking off and heading towards his next class. The first thing he noticed was the rosette-wearing group from earlier hanging out in the back of the class. One blonde-haired guy seemed more intent on what the teacher was saying once class started. Jean saw one who seemed to be writing something in a notebook. He was dressed in a simple purple t-shirt and jeans, but his hair was the most noticeable. It was long, blonde, and simply braided. The kid beside him was just the opposite. He slouched in his chair, his feet on the desk. He was paying more attention to the girls in the room than the teacher. His clothes were rumpled and his brown hair was messy. He wore a choker surfer's necklace with a shell braided onto it and colorful high tops. There was a tough punk guy who was decked out in leather with a mohawk. He looked like he really wanted to start a fight with someone. There was a fairly grown-up looking black student, a small guy with big geeky glasses (he seemed scared of everything), a sleek-looking scholar, a hipster type who looked like he'd rather be anywhere besides school, an average sized teen with a slightly wispy beard, and a kid who looked as young as sophomore. Jean thought he maybe got moved up. The teacher announced that this year they would be focusing on European history, starting with France. The blonde-haired leader of the group smiled, listening carefully. The scholar also seemed more interested since she announced that. The others had scattered interest, with a few faces brightening. During the rest of class, the preppy scholar looked around the room critically, and his gaze settled on Jean. After history was lunch, and as Jean settled down at a table beside Cosette, he noticed the scholar walking over from the group's rowdy table. He looked at little Cosette, then back at Jean.

"Hey, you two want to come sit with us?" he asked with a friendly smile.

Jean looked over at Cosette, who smiled shyly in approval, then back to the scholar. "Sure, thanks."

He followed their new friend to the lively table. They sat at the end of the table, Jean sitting next to the blonde leader and Cosette sitting on the very end. Across from her was the one who looked like a sophomore.

The chill and confident kid with the rumpled hair noticed them immediately. "Hey, Ferre, who'd you bring us?" he asked with a grin.

The scholar looked over at Jean and Cosette sheepishly. "What _are_ your names?"

Jean chuckled. "I'm Jean, and this is Cosette." Cosette waved shyly.

The chill kid offered a finger gun in greeting, and the scholar smiled. "That's Courfeyrac. He's pretty much our entertainer." He gestured to the blonde leader. "This is Enjolras. He's heading for the presidency someday. Super into politics." He walked around the table to introduce the others. "This is Lesgles. We call him Bossuet, though. He's pretty much a complete black cat. He jinxes _everything_." The black kid smiled sheepishly, nodding in agreement. He walked behind the kid with the braid, who was bent over his notebook again, writing thoughtfully. "This is Jehan. He pretty much lives in a world of romance and poetry. He's completely unresponsive when writing, as you can see." He said, gesturing to Jehan, who hadn't even acknowledged that the scholar was talking about him. He moved over to the small kid with the nerdy glasses. "This is Joly. He's everyone's favorite hypochondriac." Joly smiled shyly from behind his bangs. The scholar smiled, moving to the punk. "This is Bahorel. He can't stay out of fights, even when he tries. Could be the mohawk." Bahorel chuckled, playfully punching his palm. The scholar continued to the kid with the wispy beard. "This is Feuilly, and he's our softie. He pretty much loves everyone. He has like, a million stray cats at his house."

Feuilly smiled brightly. "What can I say? I can't let them starve..."

The scholar chuckled. "Of course you can't." He moved to the hipster, who was slouching in his seat. "This is Grantaire. Beware the skeptic. He can't simply believe _anything_. He has to prove it, or not believe it." Grantaire smirked, saluting with two fingers. "He also obsessed with Mountain Dew. He can't live without the stuff."

Grantaire shrugged, "Can't help it."

The scholar rolled his eyes with a smile, moving on to the last one at the table, across from Cosette. "This is Marius. A bit of a wimp, but he's pretty smart. He's really a sophomore, but he skipped a grade."

Jean nodded to himself. _I thought so._

Enjolras spoke up suddenly. "You're forgetting our guide." He said with a smile, gently bopping the scholar on the back of the head. "This is Combeferre. We'd all be in trouble if it weren't for him. He helps everyone with their homework, keeps Courfeyrac in line, and even brings the snacks at our meetings." Combeferre smiled modestly, sitting down.

Jean smiled at the group. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." He glanced over at Cosette, slightly surprised to find her staring across the table at Marius. He glanced over at the kid to find him staring back. Cosette smiled shyly, looking at the ground, and Marius blushed slightly. Jean rolled his eyes. _Romance…_ He thought himself, rolling his eyes. Just before lunch ended, an excited eighth grader with mid-length golden hair and deep blue eyes ran up to the group. "Hey guys!" he called before he reached them.

Courfeyrac smiled, turning towards the voice. "Hey there, Gavroche. Whatcha been doin' lately?"

Gavroche smiled. "Mainly just hanging around, doing homework. When's the next meeting?"

"We haven't quite decided yet, but we'll be sure to tell you when we do, k?"

"Alright. I have to get back to the middle school side before they catch me." He said with a grin.

"Catch ya later, little dude!" called Grantaire after him.

Enjolras looked over at Jean. "He's kind of our mascot. Great kid."

Jean nodded with a smile. "He seems like it." Suddenly the bell went off. "I'll see you guys later." He said, checking his schedule, seeing that he had Science next. As he walked down the hall, ne noticed some fellow juniors giving a junior girl a hard time. They had her surrounded in the hall, giving her a hard time about her looks and calling her names. She obviously wanted none of it, and looked about ready to explode. Suddenly she slapped the leader hard in the face, trying to slip away, but he grabbed her by the arm. As he watched, he suddenly saw the school president show up, and of course he blamed the girl, because she had gotten violent. He was about to report her to the principal when Jean grabbed him by the shoulder. "Hey, it wasn't her fault. They were givin' her a hard time. She just defended herself."

The president gave him a hard look. "And why should I believe you. Didn't you just get out of prison this year?"

Jean glared at him. "That doesn't make my word any less trustworthy than yours. You didn't even see it. If you take her to the principal, I'll come and argue against you."

The president rolled his eyes. "Take her, convict."

Jean glared at him, but gently put his arm around the girl's shoulders and led her away. The girl looked up at him, her eyes grateful. "Thanks. I've never seen anyone stand up to Javert like that. I mean, it's good to have a president who follows the rules, but he takes it a bit too far. He also tends to judge by what he sees, but he can't see everything."

Jean nodded. "Javert, huh? Well at least now I know the name of my first enemy here. Along those lines, what's your name?"

The girl smiled slightly. "My name's Fantine. By the way, did you really just get out of prison?"

Jean nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. But all I did was steal some bread from a store. What class do you have next? I have science."

Fantine smiled. "Me too."

Jean smiled back, taking his arm off her shoulders as they walked to class. They reached their science class, and Fantine brightened as she spotted a black-haired girl sitting near the middle of the class. "Hey Eponine!" she called with a smile. "Come on," she said to Jean, walking over and sitting down beside her friend. Eponine smiled. "Nice to see you, girl." She looked over at Jean. "Who's he?"

Fantine chuckled. "His name is Jean. He got Javert to leave me alone."

Eponine nodded in understanding. "Now I understand. Well, I guess we're doing chemistry this year?"

Fantine nodded. "Yeah. At least it's our last class for today."

Eponine smiled. "Only an hour and a half until freedom!" she chuckled.

Jean watched the two of them pass notes throughout the class, smiling slightly. He was glad she had a friend to support her. After the end of science class, he headed for the door and the bus as fast as he could without running. He smiled as he sat next to Cosette on the bus back. The boys group sat down in the seats surrounding them, and he saw the pair of girls sit down at the front of the bus. He smiled to himself. This school year may not be so bad after all…


End file.
